How to Sustain Energy in a Campaign
By Jesse Winters
Almost every Capital Campaign starts out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm behind the project. It probably isn’t much of surprise that the most successful ones, however, sustain their enthusiasm all the way through to the end of the campaign. By keeping the energy of the core leaders and volunteers high the passion for the project is more easily ignited in the hearts and minds of others.
In the early stages of any campaign a passion for the project ignites the energy of core leaders and volunteers, but as we get further into a campaign it is the energy of those same leaders and volunteers that ignites the passion and energy of those they talk to. Quite often though, those key leaders and influencers begin to get tired and their energy begins to wane. So, how does a church keep up their energy during a campaign? Here are a few key points to keep that energy pumping.
- Take at least 5-10 minutes every day to pray or meditate on the mission and the eventual outcome of the campaign. It is incredibly important to remember why you are working so hard.
- Make your own challenging pledge towards the campaign. This is a crucial step in taking ownership of the campaign for both yourself and the campaign. Everyone involved with the campaign needs to be a part of it first otherwise they cannot accurately display their own conviction.
- Have a cheerleader or two on board. It is incredibly important to have a few people around to act as encouragers and remind people that the ultimate goal is worth the work. All it takes is the occasional, ‘Nice job’ or a ‘Way to go’ at the right time to keep someone engaged.
- Set achievable short term goals. This does two things:
1.Keeps everyone accountable for what they are trying to do so there is little confusion about what success is.
2.Gives everyone the opportunity to rejoice and be thankful in successes along the road. - Finally, use a full-time, on-site consultant. Having a consultant frees up everyone to use their own talents in their most beneficial areas rather than having people using up energy on various administrative tasks. Additionally, it gives the campaign an expert on site that can answer questions about procedure, train volunteers in best methods, and be the point person for the campaign.